SAFF Championship postponed once again

Maldives national team faces off their Indian counterparts in SAFF Championship -- Photo by: raajjemv

Next year’s SAFF Championship has been postponed once again.

The Championship will now be held in 2018, from the 4th to the 13th of September.

The bi-annual Championship was postponed to May 2018 earlier in June this year.

The Championship, initially scheduled for December 2017, was postponed following a meeting of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Executive Committee on Thursday, in Bengaluru, India.

The Championship was postponed on a request submitted by India. The Committee passed to hold the Championship from the 1st to the 21st of May 2018 in Bangladesh.

India had requested to postpone the Championship as the nation was preparing for the under 17 FIFA World Cup and changes had been brought to the country’s football schedule. As per the previous schedule, the country’s iLeague will be concluded by December. However, due to the under 17 FIFA World Cup, the country’s footballing bodies are considering merging the iLeague and Indian Super League. This, in effect create a longer season.

The SAFF Championship is an annual tournament held between regions national teams. On the request of sponsors, the Championship is held in India every two years. India had won the most trophies of the Championship, winning the title six out of the nine years the Championship was held.